The present chapter explores professional recognition in the EU by discussing the Professional Qualifications Directive (PQD). This instrument constitutes the EU legal framework for de jure professional recognition and includes provisions for recognition in the case of services and establishment. Furthermore, different systems for recognition can be distinguished encompassing different forms of recognition ranging from automatic recognition to mutual recognition. The PQD was last updated in 2013 when a number of modernisations were introduced, including a European Professional Card, common training principles as a way to expand automatic recognition, provisions on traineeships relevant to non-fully qualified professionals, and a mutual evaluation and transparency exercise to enhance understanding of the motivation behind the regulation of professions in the Member States. Apart from discussing the various elements of the PQD, this chapter also revisits the case law of the CJEU on recognition of professional qualifications to demonstrate how the Vlassopoulou doctrine can be considered to have developed into an alternative system for recognition of professional qualifications for those whose situation falls outside the scope of the PQD.